Two weeks ago there was a story that British singer M.I.A had chosen the unusual name Ickitt for her son. M.I.A.’s baby came into the world on February 11, just a few days after the heavily pregnant star performed at the Grammy Awards. M.I.A. denied her new baby’s name in an amusing all-caps post to her MySpace blog, saying “”MY BABY IS NOT CALLED ICKITT, PICKIT OR LICKIT THANK YOU VERY MUCH. HES A BABY, HE DONT NEED PRESS!”
She didn’t specify at the time what she did name the baby, and there may be a good reason for that. TMZ has obtained the baby’s birth certificate and his actual name isn’t that far off from Ickitt. He’s called “Ikhyd.” Is that like “I kid you not, that’s my real name”?
We got our hands on singer M.I.A’s new baby’s birth certificate and, as she disputed on her blog, the baby’s name is not Ickitt. That’s just ridiculous, who in their right mind would name their baby that? The real name happens to be Ikhyd.
According to the document, Mathangi Maya Arulpragasam officially named her son Ikhyd Edgar Arular Bronfman, common spelling.
[From TMZ]
Maybe M.I.A. pronounces it like Ickitt, and that’s why there was some initial confusion. It’s a strange name, and the pronunciation will make a difference. I don’t think it’s a common name in any variation in any culture, but people will point out that what sounds odd to us may not be out of the ordinary for another language and/or country. M.I.A. is from the UK and her family is from Sri Lanka.
If you google “Ikhyd” there are only 1,350 results and the google-suggested variation, Ikhide, has only 6,650 results. “Ikhide” seems to be an an African name, but there aren’t that many results for it so it must not be that popular. Ikhyd is original, that’s for sure. At least he won’t have to worry about other kids in his class having the same name.
Header of M.I.A. at the Grammy awards on February 8th. Image thanks to BauerGriffinOnline.
still an ugly name and she’s is about the most unattractive pregnant woman I have seen in ages.
YOU DON’T EVEN KNOW HOW IT IS ACTUALLY PRONOUNCE YOU MORON! Maybe it sounds beautiful when it is said. Also, MIA is beautiful. All of her features are real unlike other hollywood celebrities.
wtf?????? How ghetto can you get?? Poor child.. geez
oh good that explains it, that is much better
honestly i like strange names
I think she’s very cute.
Actually voodoobetty, JLo was pretty bad, here face blew up like her body and never went back to normal.
It’s interesting: her father is a Tamil Tiger and she’s married to a Bronfman. The Bronfman family of Montreal made their fortune smuggling liquor into the US to clients like Al Capone during prohibition. She’s got a thing for maintaining her ‘criminal’ (depends whether one considers the Tigers terrorists or not) affiliation I guess.
I like her music but I do think she’s a bit of a wackadoo.
Tia–
seriously, did you not read the part about or have prior knowledge that other cultures have different names. not everybody is named Jeff or Greg and that’s okay. it doesn’t make her ghetto. stop being so ethnocentric.
I think she is a very attractive woman but with a bloody awful taste in clothes (and baby names)!
I like her originality. She dresses for her personality, and I’m sure the name means something to her. It’s not like those idiots celebutards that name their kid Bronx or something for a gross reason
shes not white, first of all, why would you expect a white or caucasian or christian name??
Not too keen on Ikhyd (although I’m sure it has special meaning for her), I love Arular – the name her father was known by.
I honestly thought Ickitt was a cute name. Ikhyd, in my opinion, is beautiful.
Exactly hesus, it’s a little ridiculous to assume that she’d give her kid an English name. Not everyone is going to be named Tom or Harry. People don’t respect the fact that there are other cultures out there with their own heritage and names.
she rocks and is one of the most original artists out there. she studied textiles, I believe, and designs many of her own clothes which are all derivtive and full of references, just like her music. step off haters: this woman is highly creative and widely respected.
oops-it was graphic art, sorry, not textiles, but she has exhibited her art and has designed an entire fashion line. it may not be what people are used to, but she is totally avant guard.
She’s very attractive, but any outfit that makes you look like you joined the circus is a fail for me.
yeah I should clarify its not her face or body but how she chooses to dress herself. Atrocious. Its one thing to dress like you work in the circus and another to wear the whole freakin circus tent.
good for her
people with what you condsider weird names.. be careful your Susie or Tommy will end up marrying or nameing their kids something out of the ordinary
okay,of course i meant ‘wear’ not ‘where’ with the shoes thing.
its interesting to note MIA baby daddy has $$$$ family background is Seagrams Liqour and various Entertaimnent like Universal studios MCA and theme parks
Dumb tw*t. Come on.
I’d still prefer Ikhyd to the unfortunate name Bronx Mogli.
It’s pronounced Ik-hide, it doesn’t rhyme with pickit or lickitt. Gosh, a Sri Lankan giving her baby a Sri Lankan name – how odd.
I have never heard of the name Ickhyd – it seriously doesn’t sound South Asian, Tamil, or Sanskrit at all! Poor little kid’s still going to end up being called Icky.
As to whether or not the Tamils are considered terrorists, you’d have to ask the late Rajiv Gandhi that one.
Gee. Aren’t you quite the genius. FYI There are terrorists that belong to every race. Tamil people are smart, well-spoken, and have beautiful features. The internet is not for racist people like you. Go crawl up in a hole because you mind sure lives in one.
Clue: it was the Tamils who invented the suicide belt.
Tamil Tigers, I mean – ugh, I miss the edit button.
calling her ugly & ghetto because she does her own thing & wears what she wants to?
“make fun of someone whos not like us!”
sounds like some of you have BORING personalities…;)
She’s a moron, and the fact that she would saddle her kid with such an idiotic name tells me that she’s a lousy mother.
Really, what is wrong with people? There’s nothing cute about sticking a child with some idiotic, unpronounceable, difficult to spell name.
And the fact that you’re so close-minded to not even consider that it might be a cultural thing tells me that you’re a lousy person, Lauri. Not to mention completely ignorant.
Right on, aleach 😉
Oh yes, I can see the big difference between the two and why she asked people NOT to call her baby Ickitt. Smart thinking, MIA. Go back to your trailer park now.
wow people here are so unoriginal. There are plenty of names that are hard to pronounce, even in English, and to call someone “ghetto” and “moronic” for not naming their child something super boring like Amanda is IGNORANT.
Sometimes being a white person makes me embarrassed for all the closed-minded North American comments.
Sorry, Amanda, I’m from South Asia and even I think that’s a jackass name.
Wow. Are you serious? The child will end up in years of therapy for that stupid name. You better start saving for the sessions lady. How selfish to do your publicity thru naming an innocent child that.
Oh puhlease! All of you people who think that all children are so disturbed by what people think of themselves in their youth are unbelievable! Just because you hold your self esteem linked to the opinions of your juvenile colleagues, does not mean that everyone does! Especially as a celebrity child, I think that his classmates will have other things to think about. Ikhyd (which due to the lack of sounds in the English alphabet, you people still would pronounce wrong) will be fine…and he can always go by a middle name if he does not like his first one (many white people do…)! Sheesh!
Bina
why don’t you ask all the innocent civilians who were killed by the Indian People Killing Force …eh sorry … Indian Peace Keeping Force that was sent to Sri Lanka in the late 80s to tell you whether Rajiv Gandhi was a terrorist or not!
One cannot please all the people all the time. It is the 21 st century for god’s sake. I thought democracy in the “free/first” world is about the right to personal choice and individuality. There are 6billion people on this earth. More than a million have chinese names. Another billion have asian names. The level of closed mindedness I’ve seen in the response to MIA’s baby’s name on other websites is shocking – and telling of the depth of ignorance of people who have access to computers.
Hi, this is a great site, and very well thought out and well written.
Best Regards and Best of Luck
Thank You For keeping it on point and on topic –
Best Regards